The sickening crack from the last knockout was still ringing
throughout the house. We were all anticipating Kajan
Johnson’s return so we could show him that he had our support.
When he finally returned, we were all shocked with the extent of
his injuries.

I can only imagine how Chad
Laprise would be feeling. I don’t know what would have felt
worse, the knockout or seeing his teammate return from the hospital
like that. It must have been hard for Kajan to arrive back at the
house knowing his own team had abandoned him for the most important
fight of his life. I hope they felt the guilt they should have;
after all, it wasn’t supposed to be Team Canada vs. Kajan.

On a lighter note, we will soon get to see the “Wild Thing” shut
down “The Spartan” once and for all. Tyler
Manawaroa vs. Elias
Theodorou is your classic striker-versus-wrestler matchup, and
if Tyler does what we all know he can do, then he will take the
win. There isn’t any secret to what Elias will try to do -- he
wants to wear down Tyler with wrestling and grind out a decision --
because if he tries to stand up with the “Wild Thing,” he’s going
to sleep.

It was good to see Elias and Tyler keep up their friendly nature
towards each other, even though they were only days out from their
fight. I guess it’s due to their character; they both seem to like
staying relaxed and not building up undue pressure on themselves
prior to a fight.

It’s no wonder Tyler has trouble making weight. Fries, tater tots
and cheese do not make for the best meal the day before the
weigh-in, buddy. Thankfully, both fighters made weight. It was yet
another entertaining weigh-in, and now we are in store for a
cracker of a fight. Both fighters push the pace, both fighters have
completely opposite styles and a spot in the finale is on the line.
This fight has all the makings to be “Fight of the Season.”

Fight day arrives, and everything went as usual. Tyler was relaxed
but quiet at the same time. You could tell he was ready in his
mind. It’s always awesome seeing Tyler warm up on the pads; he
fires right up and every punch shook the change room. I had two
predictions on the fight: Tyler would knock out Elias in the early
rounds or Elias would outwrestle Tyler and grind out a decision.
Unfortunately for Team Australia, it was the latter.

It wasn’t a surprise that Elias came out shooting doubles. We all
knew that’s what he was going to do, and Tyler knew it, too; he
just didn’t react. Like Coach Kyle Noke said,
he didn’t get out of first gear. You can’t expect to beat someone
by matching their pace. You have to outwork them every second of
the fight. It was not the most exciting of fights, considering
Elias did exactly what we expected, but props to him on his
conditioning. Cardio and wrestling were the stories of this fight.
He kept calm and stuck to his game plan, which was to keep Tyler on
the cage, take him down and tire him out.

By midway through the third round, I think everyone knew that Tyler
wasn’t going to come back and win this one, but at least he kept
fighting until the very last bell. No one was more upset with Tyler
than Tyler himself. He knew he didn’t put in 100 percent, and he
didn’t do everything he could to win the fight. That feeling is
almost as bad as the loss itself. Tyler is super talented, and I’m
almost certain that you’ll see him in the UFC again someday.

We only have two more fights left to get an Aussie in the finale,
so we will be doing all we can to help out Richard
Walsh and Vik Grujic
with their fights. I’m confident that both boys can win their
fights. Tune in next week for hard training good old Aussie humor
and another semifinal matchup, as “Filthy Rich” meets Olivier
Aubin-Mercier.